Me and My Hormones

Today I went on a soul-stirring jog on a local trail.  I really needed it, as I'd been feeling a bit on the fragile side emotionally.  Hard, sweaty exercise gave me a boost in endorphins that helped to put my moods in perspective.  The run gave me peace and stability of mind that nothing else could have done.

Lately I've had a flurry of emotions and, at my own advice, started tracking just when these emotions present themselves.  You see, in the six-month group classes that I lead, we've been talking about emotions:  emotional eating (see my blog on that topic here), emotional drains, and hormones that can affect our emotions (I don't mean to exclude men, here.  This could prove interesting to you, so read on!).  The assignment at our last session was to chart emotions, as well as other psychological and physical changes that occur over the course of our monthly cycle.

Here's the feeling I went into the run with:  I am watching my teen sons grow up, and that alone has me adrift in the sea of "Now What?"  These boys have been my life.  I've homeschooled them, nurtured them and held them close, but now it is time to give them room to fly, the opportunity to live their choices.  In just a few short years, they'll be off being adults and out of the home.

That thought - them not being here in the day-to-day, is with me every moment.  And sometimes those moments end up tearful for me, in the quiet of my bedroom, or while out on a run or on a walk or in the shower.  Or now, as I type this.

Other days, the main emotion is one of well-being, that all is right in their world and mine, and that I'm thrilled to see what they end up doing with their beautiful lives.

But wait, I ought to take a look at the calendar.  Ah, yes, just as I suspected.  I am in the second half of my monthly cycle and, predictably, I am a bit moodier.  Here is a great article discussing how mood is affected by our menstrual cycles.  And here is another one.

There are four phases of a woman's menstrual cycle (any intrepid guys still reading?), each with its own particulars:

• menstruation.  After a few days in to your period, pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) cravings have slowed down, belly-bloat has deflated, and an overall sense of well-being has settled in.
• follicular.  Estrogen is rising and a calm prevails as a woman's body prepares to release that one hopeful egg.
• ovulation.  During this juncture our bodies are all about fertilization.  This is a time when women's libido increases and the body prepares the egg to meet visiting swimmers.  Women generally feel at their best, sexy, and more aroused.  (Men:  Do I have your attention?)
• luteal.  The progesterone has peaked in anticipation of pregnancy, and if there is none, the levels fall again.  The body can react to this in various ways:  a dip in mood, food cravings, bloating, and breast tenderness can occur.  (Note to men still reading:  This is the part of a woman's cycle that all the PMS jokes are made from.  Tread lightly.)

So here I am, in the luteal phase.  Not only that, I am perimenopausal, which means that the hormonal changes are not as predictable.  Perhaps this is TMI, but I want to be vulnerable in this because I want women to be able to talk about what goes on in their bodies.  Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed with the issues of life.  This is something that I have particularly noticed in the last six months or so, as my body tries to decide if I'm an old lady yet (after all, I am 50 now).    :)

And that's why that jog was so important to me.  Exercise, it turns out, helps to balance hormones and mitigate some of the swings.  So does eating healthy (read:  cut out processed and refined "foods" and sugars; eat real, whole foods; cut back on animal products), avoiding caffeine and alcohol, and managing stress.   My main man,  Dr. Mark Hyman (one of my faves) had this to say about women and hormones.

We are not victims of PMS, but if we don't take care of ourselves, we will be.  A healthy woman simply will not experience that strong tide of issues throughout the month.  This is my new testimony.  In fact, I wrote a blog about how my monthly cycle changed once I changed my diet.  I am happy to report that I am, for the most part, symptom free...

...except for the part about getting teary-eyed at the thought of my kids leaving the nest.  But I guess that's to be expected.  They are great kids, and I am their mom, after all.